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Tuesday, 14 October 2014

Commitment Issues

I would like to think that ‘Prescription Fiction’ is a very
friendly blog. I am extremely open to all your comments, tweets and suggestions
and in fact encourage them! I am more than happy to answer almost any question
or query that you may have and I would love to think of my blog as a small
community. However, as a particularly passionate breed of bookworm, one of the
worst questions anyone could ever ask me is this:

“What is
your favourite book?”

With those five simple words, every
book I have ever read will fall out of my head and into a puddle around my
feet. I will squirm and wriggle and say ‘Um…’ a lot, before finally shuffling
away with an extremely anti-climactic ‘I don’t know’.

The pressure of that question is too
much to bear. The asker will always stare at you with a certain amount of
expectation in their eyes, as if whatever it is that bursts out of your mouth
next will determine their opinion of you for many years to come. If I say
something like ‘The Lord of the Flies’ then they will probably give me an
impressed nod and invite me to eat lunch with them, however, if I panic and say
‘Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging’ (I do love that book) then they will
probably wrinkle their nose in disgust before exiling me from their life
entirely. Probably.

I don’t see why I should have to
choose a favourite book at all. I simply cannot commit to one when there is so
much choice out there. It is simply ridiculous that I should have to let you make
a snap decision about me based on whether I prefer Classics or Sci-Fi; romance
or horror; ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ or ‘Winnie the Pooh’. I am not married
to a single novel; I am having off-again, on-again affairs with more than
twelve at once.

My favourite book can be different
every single day of the week. It entirely depends on what kind of mood I’m in.
If I’m in quite an emotional mood, I’ll probably name ‘Anna and the French
Kiss’ as my favourite and start endlessly chattering about boarding school in
Paris. If I want to feel cool and mysterious, I might tell you that I love the
symbolism in ‘The Catcher in the Rye'. If on a particularly reminiscent
Tuesday, I am overtaken by nostalgia, I will tearfully tell you all about my
mother’s beaten old copy of ‘Nancy and Plum’ that she was given in Sunday
school as a child and ignore your confused expression when you don’t know what
the hell I’m on about.

In reality though, none of these
books are my favourite. Or maybe they all are? I don’t really know and I don’t
really think I should have to. When you think of me, I don’t want you to think
of a miniscule 300 pages – I want you to think of an entire library!

This is why I think that in the UK
we should have a law that prohibits everyone from ever asking that dreaded
question. I want David Cameron and stand up in the House of Commons and say
that if one wants to enquire about another person’s taste in reading, then we
must say ‘So what kinda books are you into, chum?’ or something of that
variety. I guarantee you that by doing
this everyone in the UK will probably be invited to 70% more sleepovers. Probably.

No more shall we have to stand
sweating in front of a new acquaintance, wracking our brains for that one
answer that will lead to a strong and beautiful friendship. No more will we
fail to come up with that answer and instead try to avoid that person for the
next month out of embarrassment. No more shall we have to run into them at our
friend Keith’s party and awkwardly stand making our ridiculous excuses! No
more, I say, no more!

I do not have a favourite book. I
have commitment issues.

Do you know your favourite book? Am I the only one with this issue?! Tell me down in the comments, I'd love to know!

Great post! I'm completely with you on this one! Every year I have a new favorite book! I've read almost 50 books this year, and picking just one is sooo difficult. I do have a top favorite of the year because the book was just so beautiful, but who's to say in 2015, another book won't take it's place. I think that's why I want to make a "favorites" shelf on one of my bookshelves, that way I don't feel pressured to having just one! lol

50 books! :O I never count, I just sort of do...But is that with Goodreads? I don't have goodreads but everyone else seems to.. It looks great, I love the idea of an entirely book-based social media, but I can see myself getting so addicted ^_^ But what is this favourite of yours?? (At the moment I mean, I wouldn't expect you to tell me otherwise) I have a couple favourite shelves.. But I'm not very difficult to impress, so almost every teen fiction novel I buy ends up on there :D

There isn't a ultimate favourite book (oh, I lie. I think I'm very, extremely fond of The Picture of Dorian Gray) but I do have a favourite book in each genre. It'd just be so hard to choose! Great discussion post!

Each genre is much easier :D I wish we could do it like that ^_^ I've never read The Picture of Dorian Gray but I've been in some Oscar Wilde plays and I didn't find the older language too tricky, so maybe I'd enjoy his books :D But thankyou for the fabulous comments!

Great! Then I'm definitely not going crazy over here with indecision! It isnt just me :D Yeah! I think we all having a bit of a split-personality when it comes to books! How else can I read Louise Rennisons 'Midsummer Tights Dream' and 'Lord of The Flies' one after the other?! Must be some serious nonsense going on in my brain :D

Thankyou very much :3 It's awful! No one knows the answer! Anyone who claims they do know is either lying or don't know they're lying. All you have to say is "Are you sure...?" or "What about...?" and I guarantee they'll change their minds :D

I need to thank you for this post.. I giggled the entire way through your rant! I definitely understand your commitment issues, because I have the same ones myself. My favorite book has yet to exist, and most likely never will. My favorite varies with the day of the week, my mood, what color I'm wearing.. basically everything under the sun. But I do have a top twenty list that is home to all of my favorites, and I switch up the finalists every now and then. If an evil sadistic person were to ask me that dreaded question, I have a long-winded answer for them that includes at least most of these twenty books, as well as new ones I've discovered along the way, and also ones that I am excited to read! Someone wants to be a monster and ask that question- then they get what they ask for! (: Great post lady!Morrighan @ Elysian Fields( http://ufbooks.blogspot.com )

Oh such a lovely comment! I love it when people take time to give me feedback so this is WONDERFUL! :D (too much enthusiasm..?) I'm glad I made you laugh :3 I try to be funny, but I think I find myself waaaay more hilarious than anyone else does! I'm forever laughing at my own jokes when other people are silent :D But clothing choices definitely affect my mood! If I'm wearing a scarf I am 50% deeper than usual ^_^ But defo tell me some of your favourite books?! My birthday is next month so I'm asking for a good ol haul! I could do with suggestions :D The question is most definitely evil though. pure, unadulterated evil. I like your method. next time someone asks me I am just going to RANT their socks off!! :3

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About Me

Hello! My name is Evie! I'm the author of Prescription Fiction I am a British teenager with a passion for reading. I love to talk about books, so I guess this is my way of doing jut that! Please feel free to leave any comments on my posts, and I'm always open to new reading suggestions!
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